July 28, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

10:00 – 11:00 AM meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Jane Downes, planned speaker; Jacque Wiersma, musician; care of meeting, Lolly Lijewski; Zoom host – Rae Beth C.

Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for the link to worship this Sunday.

. . . I bend
the only knee I have to bend, feel
happily small, contingent, and held, by what
I can’t say, short of everything.
~ Bob Hicok, The Call to Worship

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those who are grieving the death of a loved one.

Friends for a NonViolent World as Executive Director, Leah Robshaw Robinson, leaves her leadership position. The board has identified an Interim Director.

People who are grieving or suffering from injustice, conflict, racism, colonialism, displacement, loss, and the climate crisis, and all those who are aiding victims and the dispossessed.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Young Adult Quakers (age 18-40) will gather at Turtle Bread at the rise of worship TODAY. Join for coffee, lunch, or just conversation.

Next Sunday at the rise of worship – stay for the potluck! To regulars – bring lots so we can be confident inviting visitors to stay!

There is mid-week worship every Wed night, 7PM. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org by noon Wed for the link.

Minneapolis Meeting Friends will help prepare and serve a Loaves and Fishes dinner at Holy Rosary Church TOMORROW, Mon, July 29th. Join other metro-area Friends to provide a nutritious meal at Holy Rosary Church in S Mpls, 2424 – 18th Ave S. There are three shifts to cover the tasks of the meal: meal prep (2-3:30PM); burrito assembly and handing out the meals (4:15-5:30PM,) and clean up (5:15-6:30PM.) Fruit donations, dropped off at Holy Rosary after 2:00, are needed as well. Email Sue K. to sign up for a shift or to arrange to drop off fruit. Hats/hair covering and close-toed shoes required. Sign up to come if you can!

Ministry and Counsel Committee (M&C) asks individuals who feel led to share a prepared message or a reading during semi-programmed worship, to contact Lolly L. or other members of M&C. M&C is also looking for closers for both worships. Serving as a closer is a ministry of service to the meeting.

Being a substitute A/V Tech is a great way to support the Meeting’s worship and commitment to inclusion. Take advantage of the relaxed schedule of summer to get some AV training / refreshers! Running the AV system is not about technology – it’s more like following a recipe. There are step by step ‘recipe cards’ to operate the system. This is a call to a ministry of making connections – helping connect people remotely with the meetinghouse and back again. Willing to help? Contact Marilyn J. or Roger M.

Don’t miss this summer’s Corn Fest, Sat, Aug 3rd, in Hopkins, offered by the Welcoming and Outreach Committee. Details coming.

Seems like next autumn is forever away – but mark your calendars now for Fall Together October 26th! Make time to gather with Friends at beautiful Fish Lake Park to rest, relax, renew, re-connect and RELISH time together in the great outdoors!

Jeff Halper recently spoke at MFM, offering From Genocide in Gaza to Decolonizing Palestine: Toward A Democratic State for All Between the River and the Sea. He offered a similar talk at New Branches Church a few days later. Jeff’s presentation there is available on You Tube: https://youtu.be/LNBTmXqhmaU

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

The Watson Reading Group, which usually meets on the fourth Tues of each month, will meet on July 30th, 7-8:30PM via Zoom. We will read and discuss the article: https://www.friendsjournal.org/carrying-light-to-need/ . If you have interest in joining, please let John D. know.

Joining the MFM Google Group is one of the easy ways be engaged with the Meeting. It is also a good tool for committees to communicate with those members of the meeting who participate. To sign up simply send an email request to office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org. For more about the MFM Google Group, go to minneapolisfriends.org/google-group. Also, to help keep abreast of Meeting news, you can find bulletins, events, and monthly meeting minutes on the meeting website – https://minneapolisfriends.org/

Small group line-up: Writing Group, first Monday night; Conflict Soiree, first Wednesday afternoon; Getting to Know You Group, second Tuesday afternoon; Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice Group, second Tuesday night; Reading Group, fourth Tuesday night.

OPPORTUNITIES AMONG FRIENDS

Introduction to Friends Committee on National Legislation – TONIGHT, July 28 at 6PM(CT), Arch Street Quakers will host a virtual talk by Friends Committee on National Legislation’s Program Associate for Quaker Engagement, Micah MacColl Nicholson, about FCNL’s advocacy for Quaker values in the work they do with the US federal government. Just over 80 years ago, Friends started FCNL and became the first registered religious lobbying organization in the country. Today, with a team of expert lobbyists and coalition partners, grassroots networks from across the country, and the input of hundreds of Quaker communities at the start of every new congress, FCNL faithfully works to create the World We Seek. Grounded in a vision to bring about a more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable world, that legacy continues to guide their prophetic work within the federal government. No RSVP required, details at archstreetfriends.org .

Friends for Non Violent World is a social justice organization started by Quakers from Twin Cities Meeting, Minneapolis Meeting and Prospect Hill Meeting in the 1970s. FNVW has supported the life-changing Alternatives to Violence programs (AVP) in prisons and jails in Minnesota. It championed the Nuclear Freeze in the 80’s, promoted political engagement in the 90’s and police reform in the 2000’s -2010’s. Today, FNVW is bringing AVP to youth in Hennepin County. FNVW is a voice in the community for Quaker concerns and values.
Currently, the FNVW board needs greater Quaker participation. A new director will be setting a fresh direction for the organization this coming year, so it is a great time to get involved. If you might consider serving on the board, even for a temporary term (board elections are in March), please email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to be put in touch with Cindy Robinson, board chair.

Students Uniting Then and Now, a panel discussing student activism at colleges and universities, presented by Friends Place on Capitol Hill (previously Wm Penn House) and Friends Committee on National Legislation will be offered online, Wed, July 31, 5:30-7PM(CT). Over the past year, students have come together in new ways to advocate for peace and freedom in Palestine. Now is a time to learn from the past and plan the future. This event will feature a panel of leaders from past and present movements, including the anti-apartheid movement, the Vietnam era anti-war movement, the Palestinian liberation movement, and the current movement for a ceasefire and divestment of U.S. support for the war in Gaza. Register at this link.

Quaker Call to Action invites Friends from across the country to come together for a time of worship and reflection as we approach the consequential elections in November – this Wed, July 31st, 7-8:30PM (CT). REGISTER HERE to join; you will receive a zoom link the day before the gathering. Quaker Call to Action’s List of Priority Actions, short-term actions that can be taken in the months leading up to the November elections, can be found HERE.

Register for Friends for a NonViolent World People Camp, Aug 11-17. People Camp is a rich experience of shared community life and work, recreation and connection, social justice learning and action opportunities for children and adults at the North Pines Retreat Center in Park Rapids. Find out more and register here.

Pendle Hill’s First Monday lecture, Living the Spirit of Ubuntu: Responding with Hope to God’s Call to Cherish Creation and One Another, will be offered by Robin Mohr (E.D. of Friends World Committee for Consultation,) on Aug 5, 6:30-8PM via Zoom. More and register at https://pendlehill.org/events/friends-world-committee-for-consultation-world-plenary-first-monday-lecture/

Plan ahead to join your kids at Camp Woodbrooke’s Family Camp, near Richland Center, WI, for Labor Day Weekend, Aug. 31-Sept. 2, Sat. lunch through Mon. breakfast. Rustic cabins accommodate up to eight family and friends. Start your family camping experiences by embracing quiet nature, learning bushcraft, and considering stewardship. Swim, hike, crew, craft, play, garden, eat, rest, and enjoy summer fun and fall reflections. Details and registration at campwoodbrooke.org.

Palestine
* urge Congress to resume U.S. funding for life-saving Palestinian aid. The situation for Palestinians in Gaza continues to deteriorate though there is hope for a ceasefire. All parties involved need to restore food aid before mass starvation occurs. If starvation reaches an advanced stage, the human body loses the ability to utilize food, and death may occur even with medical treatment. Quakers need to continue to demand a ceasefire. Friends Committee on National Legislation action link: https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/51886/?utm_source=fcnlaction
* join AFSC every Friday at 11AM for an Action Hour for a Cease-fire Now.
* worship with attention to peace in Palestine and Israel with Friends across the U.S. every Thurs, online, at 4:30PM. Sign up to get the link at https://afsc.org/events/meeting-worship-attention-peace-palestine-israel.
* Joyce Ajlouny, American Friends Service Committee General Secretary, explains what students mean when they demand divestment – and why we should listen….Check out these testimonies from Palestinians in Gaza – https://gazaunlocked.org/displaced-gaza….Watch AFSC’s recent webinar on Rebuilding Education in Gaza: What Can We Do?

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

There is a weekly vigil for Palestine every Friday, 4-5PM, on the corner of Summit and Snelling, St. Paul. More at https://womenagainstmilitarymadness.org/events/friday-weekly-palestine-vigil/2024-07-26/

Mayim Rabim has an Israel Palestine Study Group to understand the current violence through the lens of dual narratives, holding the experiences of the Jewish and Palestinian people of the region with empathy and a commitment to examining preconceptions and assumptions. The group has been compiling the resources they have discovered and discussed. Find them at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t8Lw2sfrCmJXHnlgBvIka-UaoakhX8iUPPLEcLnJZOU/edit?pli=1

Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURG) is holding “Don’t Agonize, Organize: A Mass Meeting” at New City Center, 3104-16th Ave S, Mpls, to build relationships and strategize around the role of white allies Sat, July 27th, 11:30 – 1:30. For more, contact showingupforracialjusticemn(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)gmail.com

There is space remaining in only one summer Healing Minnesota Stories Dakota Sacred Sites Tour – Sat, July 27, 9AM-1PM. The Dakota Sacred Sites Tours help people today more deeply understand the history and living legacy of Dakota Sacred Sites around the Twin Cities. Register here: https://www.mnchurches.org/what-we-do/healing-minnesota-stories

The Story of the Red Rock: Honoring the Sacred Sites of Eden Prairie and Beyond, Sun, Aug 4th, 4PM, Staring Lake Park Building, Eden Prairie. Hear documentarian Sheldon Peters Wolfchild (Dakota) and Kathie Case (Eden Prairie Historical Society) share some important local history through the story of how the Sacred Red Rock was reunited with the Dakota people. Elder LeMoine LaPointe will speak to a better understanding of Native Americans today. Come learn about the spiritual significance of the Red Rock, the Sioux’s sacred connection to land, and the Dakota origin story. Interfaith Circle, Community Education, and the City of Eden Prairie have collaborated to offer this FREE event. Register at https://edenprairie.ce.eleyo.com/course/9626/summer-2024-adult/the-story-of-the-red-rock-honoring-the-sacred-sites-of-eden-prairie-beyond

OFFICE HOURS

The Meeting Coordinator, will be in the office Wed, Thurs and Fri, afternoons. Phone messages checked daily. Bulletin deadline, noon Thur. Phone items in to the office (612-926-6159), email (office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org), or write and put in the bulletin file of the blue box.